Latest news with #XenobladeChroniclesX
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Nintendo is bringing one of its exclusive games to PC claims Microsoft website
A listing for a Nintendo first party game has appeared on Microsoft's Edge Game Assist webpage and it's either a mistake or the biggest news in gaming for a decade. Although Sony has finally embraced the PC market it seems impossible to imagine that any Nintendo-made game would ever appear on a modern PC, especially given some of the failed experiments in the 90s, with titles like Mario's Game Gallery. The question must certainly have come up, amongst Nintendo's execs, and you can guarantee that Microsoft has encouraged them to release games on the format, but there's never been any outward sign that they've considered it… until now. To be clear, this is almost certainly a mistake of some kind, but nevertheless, the recently re-released Xenoblade Chronicles X is currently listed as one of various ordinary PC games that are 'enhanced for Microsoft Edge Game Assist.' We'll be honest, we've never heard of Edge Game Assist until now, and we imagine most other people haven't either, but according to Microsoft, 'for a selection of popular PC games' it highlights 'helpful resources whenever you open a new tab. Many popular PC games are already enhanced for Game Assist, with more on the way.' While there is an infinitesimally small chance that Microsoft has convinced Nintendo to release games on PC, and that fact has been accidentally revealed early – ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase next Sunday – the much more likely explanation is that this is some kind of error. Perhaps it's a disgruntled employee or intern but it's a very odd mistake to make for a human and yet seems like exactly the sort of error an AI would make. Microsoft is obsessed with AI at the moment, in terms of both using it and selling it to others, and don't seem to care whether it does what it's supposed to or not – reportedly Xbox use it for language translations in Europe, even for things as important as the Xbox dashboard, and there are often very obvious mistakes. Given how unpopular Xbox is on the Continent you might have thought they'd learn from that, but it seems not. As it is, at time of writing, Xenoblade Chronicles X is still listed amongst the supported games. You can't see what kind of assistance is being offered though, as you have to start the game first… which doesn't exist on PC. More Trending Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition was released on Nintendo Switch this March, as the last major Wii U game to be ported to the format. That means that all the Xenoblade Chronicles games are now available on Switch, following Nintendo's move to buy 100% of developer Monolith Soft – who they also use as a support studio for major games such as Zelda: Breath Of the Wild. A new Xenoblade game is expected early on in the Switch 2's lifespan, and Monolith Soft is already working on a new role-playing game of some sort. So, the chances of Microsoft teaming up with Nintendo to release Xenoblade, or any other exclusive, on PC seem miniscule. And mistakes like this are only likely to put Nintendo off the idea even more. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Why I'm taking a week off work for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch – Reader's Feature MORE: Ubisoft teases Splinter Cell reveal but don't get your hopes up MORE: to a T review – surrealism and empathy from the maker of Katamari Damacy
Metro
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be a third party port machine - Reader's Feature
A reader predicts that while the Switch used a lot of Wii U ports to fill out its schedules the Switch 2 is going to rely on third parties instead. I always felt it was unfair to criticise the Switch for the amount of Wii U ports it had. Nobody bought that console and many of their games were complete flops, so it made absolute sense to bring them over. Especially when you've got something as amazing as Mario Kart 8 or Xenoblade Chronicles X. The only reason it happened to the degree it did is because the Switch didn't have a disc drive and Nintendo are backwards with their online accounts. Neither of those issues are relevant to the Switch 2 though, so it hasn't got a useful backlog of high quality Nintendo games that almost nobody has seen before. I'm sure that won't be a problem for Nintendo, even if, as other have pointed out, their post-launch line-up is a bit weird, with no big hitters that we know of yet. In fact, the whole unveiling of the Switch 2 has seem strangely rushed and not fully planned for, considering the timing was entirely up to Nintendo and they've had loads of time to prepare. Many console launches are botched though, I'm even tempted to say most, but few people remember that as it becomes irrelevant after a few months, unless the console is a dud. But, like I say, I doubt this will be an issue for the Switch 2. Another surprise so far is that there's relatively few third party games that have been announced. There was a good spread of publishers involved with the Nintendo Direct in April, but not all of them and the focus was on just a few big hitters. I'm sure this will change soon though. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that instead of Wii U games the Switch 2 is about to be overwhelmed with ports of third party games from the previous and current generation. Just as I'm writing this there's been a rumour of Red Dead Redemption 2, and I find that perfectly believable. If the Switch 2 is an instant hit, and I think there's a very good chance of that, then the first thing publishers are going to think is: 'What low effort/low cost thing can I do as quickly as possible, that can take advantage of this?' Remember that despite being potentially the best-selling console ever, and having won two generations in a row, third party publishers made very little effort with the Switch. For whatever reason they didn't bother porting PlayStation 3 and 4 era games, so even just doing that much for the Switch 2 would be a much bigger effort. It seems lazy to us, and it is, but I think the idea that EA or Activision or Rockstar Games is going to bother to make a Switch 2 exclusive is a pipe dream. Games just aren't that cheap to make anymore, especially not if the Switch 2 actually has good graphics. More Trending Nintendo will be fine with this, as they get to prove they have good third party support now and I imagine their Japanese partners will be more adventurous. But if you're worrying that the Switch 2 won't have enough games I have a feeling that by the end of the year you're going to be drowning in a sea of ports and re-releases. By reader Onibee The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@ or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email. MORE: PS6 is Sony's chance to wipe the slate clean and forget the PS5 ever happened - Reader's Feature MORE: The truth is digital video game downloads are better than physical games - Reader's Feature MORE: I don't like the look of GTA 6 and I'm not afraid to admit it - Reader's Feature
Washington Post
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
‘Xenoblade Chronicles X' is the perfect swan song for the Switch
Nintendo is determined to let the world know: 'Xenoblade Chronicles X' has secretly been one of the most influential games of the past 10 years, and it deserves a second chance. They're right. In-house studio Monolith Soft released the game in 2015 on the ill-fated Wii U platform, a console that sold only 13 million units. It was a massive, audacious project that demanded the studio's full attention, yet it was rushed out the door with an incomplete story and messy implementation of online systems, tied down by the Wii U's tablet gimmick. This 'Definitive Edition,' releasing Thursday on the Nintendo Switch, corrects many missteps. It's also a strange but fateful full-circle moment for the Switch, by far Nintendo's most successful console, with more than 150 million units sold. The Switch was an instant success in its 2017 launch year thanks to 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' — a game originally intended for the Wii U, made with help by Monolith Soft staffers, fresh off their experience with the huge open world of 'Xenoblade.' Now another Wii U game bookends the end of the Switch's life. 'Xenoblade X' boasts a map at least four times larger than Zelda's, yet somehow it is the older game. It still plays like a video game from the future, a science fiction role-playing dream come true squarely aimed at fulfilling the most ambitious of space-age fantasies. The game's premise is simple: What if 'Halo' was a Japanese role-playing adventure written by the guy whose pitch for 'Final Fantasy VII' was rejected because it was deemed 'too dark and complicated'? Humanity had to flee an Earth destroyed by galactic warfare in a single ship called the White Whale. After a few years of spacefaring, the Whale is forced to land on a mysterious planet, Mira. There, humans encounter alien pieces including one of the forces responsible for Earth's destruction. Writer and studio founder Tetsuya Takahashi is an alumnus of the Final Fantasy series, but his passion for high-minded science fiction put him at odds, hence why he went independent. 'X' was created during an era when open-world games were literally pushing the boundaries of video game content. Bethesda Studios' 'Skyrim' in 2011 was a critical and commercial success. Monolith Soft noticed that Japanese developers were not as enterprising and wanted to match that ambition with its Xenoblade series. The world of 'X' is at least 10 times larger than 'Skyrim,' and in exploring it, the literal sky is the limit. Japanese fantasy games used to let us explore worlds on flying airships and dragons, but the high-definition era of the early 2000s made that kind of magic tough to re-create. 'Xenoblade Chronicles X' is a bold and successful attempt at translating that magic to a seamless world of five continents littered with varying ecosystems, vast networks of underground caves with the most dangerous monsters and useful treasure, and even castles taller and larger than any skyscraper. It's all made possible through the selling point right on the game's cover: customizable, transforming humanoid robots called Skells. Piloting a Skell takes a few hours of gameplay, as it's meant to be a mid-story reward. You're even forced to take a mundane license test. But once you hit the first transformation from robot to car, the inner child will scream with glee. Skells also add an exhilarating layer to an intoxicating battle system that seems complicated at first blush, but improved tutorials ease players into what's mostly a color-coded system matching attacks against six distinct elements. There's battle on foot, and when that fails, escalate things by hopping into a house-size robot against bigger foes. The battle system is representative of the entire game experience, full of knobs and toggles and switches to tweak. Open-world games are often described as sandboxes. 'X' is a sandbox of systems, letting players become as powerful as they want with any weapons or robots they want, paired with up to 22 endearing characters with stories told through a complex web of quest chains that require attention, especially because the wrong dialogue choice significantly changes outcomes in many stories and character fates. This 'Definitive Edition' also adds about 20 to 30 hours of story content, finally ending the 2015 game's incomplete story. It's a meaty section of content with new characters to grow 'affinity' with (this game's version of a relationship system), along with epic combat scenarios and heroic denouements the original release sorely needed. The game doesn't quite have the budget to tell its story with Final Fantasy production values — most of it is told through on-screen dolls gabbing away — but the text itself is compelling, and much of the game's side adventures are the highlight of the writing. Like 'Skyrim,' this is a game for self-starting players. Although the new story answers pretty much every hanging question left from the original game, I do wish it was written with more surprise. Takahashi's writing taps into oft-cited Jungian psychology but has always presented it in compelling ways rooted in character drama. He attempts that here (Xenoblade stories are known for twists), but there are signs that the story was simplified a bit. It's still an immensely satisfying end because of where our characters land. One can appreciate how the low-end production allows for such expansive gameplay, with a huge menu of powerful mechanics and equipment for the player. But I was left hoping for a tighter ship anyway, particularly when it comes to the looping music. The soundtrack by famed anime composer Hiroyuki Sawano is eclectic and infectious, but restarting the loop of his pop tracks could sour the listener, particularly in a game with so many battles. There's poetry in the Switch ending its life with a Wii U title that inspired its first big hit. But beyond that, I've spent 170 hours of the past month playing what's become one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. In that time, I grew from a rookie soldier struggling mightily against field rats to felling a god in less than a second. It is the most alluring example of progression fantasy in the past decade.
